This is an automated archive.
The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/caitiep92 on 2024-01-14 19:16:03+00:00.
Kristen Deborah Modafferi was born on June 1, 1979, the second of four daughters to Bob and Debbie Modafferi. The family lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kristen graduated from high school a year early (because she'd skipped a grade), and had gotten a full scholarship to North Carolina State University. Kristen was an industrial design major there.
Kristen had decided that she would spend the summer of 1997 in San Francisco, taking in the sights and a photography class at the University of California, Berkely which would count towards her major at NC State. Kristen had found a room for rent in nearby Oakland from an online posting. Kristen arrived in California on June 1, her 18th birthday and would get a job at Spinelli's Coffee at the Crocker Galleria in San Francisco's financial district. She had also signed up for a dance class in the area. Kristen's photography class at UC Berkely was set to begin on June 24, 1997.
On June 23, 1997, Kristen worked the 7am to 3pm shift at Spinelli's Coffee. It should be noted that Kristen never liked to stick around after work, she was eager to explore that city and surrounding area so she'd leave right after her shift. There were a few times in which she asked her coworkers for suggestions for things to see and do in the area. That day, Kristen told her coworkers that she might go to Lands End Beach. However, one news article states: Although many news stories at the time reported that Kristen almost certainly headed to Lands End that day, an amateur investigator named Dennis Mahon, who later interviewed Kristen’s coworkers at Spinelli’s, told SFGATE that while Kristen had floated the idea of heading to Lands End after her shift, they said she was “noncommittal.”
However, on June 23, her coworkers said they saw Kristen at around 3:45 on the second level of the Crocker Galleria. Kristen was walking with a blonde woman, and it wasn't like this woman was walking behind Kristen, they seemed to be walking together and talking. Kristen had left work by herself, so what happened during those 45 minutes is unclear. And she never came back for her paycheck. Kristen was not seen again after this.
The next day, Kristen didn't show up for her photography class and didn't go back to the room in the house she was renting in Oakland. But her summer roommates didn't know her very well, and because she was gone a lot anyway, they didn't realize she was missing. Kristen's parents left a phone message on the answering machine of the house when she didn't call them after a day or two, but it wasn't until a few days later that one of Kristen's roommates called her parents back to them that they hadn't seen her either. This caused Kristen's parents to get the first flight out to California.
When Bob and Debbie Modafferi reported their daughter missing, they were told that the police would look into it, but since Kristen turned 18 three weeks earlier she'd be considered a missing adult. Due to this, the police first questioned Bob and Debbie about whether or not she could've left by herself or had some kind of accident. But Kristen were responsible and was looking forward to her photography class, she wouldn't not call her parents. So the Modafferi family decided to start canvassing the city themselves.
Eventually the police became more involved, there were bloodhounds sent out to track Kristen's scent. The scent was tracked to Lands End beach, but Kristen had been there on June 21 for a party, so it's unclear if she went to that specific beach again on the 23rd. Kristen's roommates and coworkers at the coffee shop were cleared of having anything to do with Kristen's disappearance. The mystery blonde woman who Kristen was walking with was never identified.
When Kristen's rented room was searched, a personal ad was found in the trash. It was from an issue of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The ad read: “Friends. Female seeking friend(s) to share activities, who enjoy music, photography, working out, walks, coffee or simply the beach, exploring the Bay Area! Interested, call me.” However, by the time the ad was found the Bay Guardian had already wiped their files during routine maintenance. So it's unclear if Kristen placed the ad herself or if someone else (like the mystery blonde) did.
On July 10, 1997, KGO-TV, a local TV news station got a call from a man named John Onuma. He stated that two women he knew had killed Kristen in some kind of lesbian jealous rage. The news station called the police who then went to go speak with Onuma. When police asked Onuma about the call, he replied by stating the call was a joke. Onuma was mad at the two women he named in the call because they fired his girlfriend. While the women named in the call were cleared, police were still suspicious of Onuma, especially after other women came forward to say that he had abused them. Apparently Onuma also used women to lure different women to him, which would explain the mystery blonde woman. Onuma even told a former girlfriend that the same thing that could happen to Kristen could happen to her. Pages had also been ripped out of his girlfriend's diary--those pages covered the time when Kristen vanished. Onuma would later move to Hawaii.
In 2015, cadaver dogs located the scent of human decay in the house where Kristen was staying that summer. Further tests indicated that there was blood in the basement area, but it couldn't fully be linked to Kristen...but it did have markers that matched her parents. But more testing needed to be done, and since Kristen lived there at one point, this lead can't fully be confirmed. Apparently even Robert Durst was considered a suspect because he was believed to be in the area at the time.
Kristen's parents lobbied lawmakers to sign "Kristen's Law," which would "provide assistance," to law enforcement and families of people who go missing over the age of 18. President Bill Clinton signed this into law in 2000 (although one source says 2001).
When Kristen Modafferi vanished, she was 5'8 inches tall, around 140 pounds. She had brown hair and eyes, and noticeable facial dimples. Kristen was last seen wearing a black shirt with Spinelli's Coffee written on it, tan pants, and a dark blue flannel shirt. Kristen was also had a green JanSport backpack with two library books inside it.
Unsolved Mysteries episode: